Occupation of Bajor
in 2369, half-destroyed after the Cardassians ended their occupation]] The Occupation of Bajor (usually simply referred to as the Occupation) was the period from 2328 to 2369 during which Bajor was under the control of the Cardassian Empire. During the Occupation, the Cardassians perpetrated a coordinated scheme of strip-mining, forced labor, and genocide across the planet. The Occupation gave rise to the fierce Bajoran Resistance, which used guerilla and terror tactics to force the Cardassians to withdraw. The Occupation As the Cardassians were technologically several hundred years ahead of the Bajorans, there was no warfare leading to the Occupation; the peaceful Bajoran people surrendered almost immediately. (DS9: "Waltz", "Duet") The Cardassians installed the Bajoran Occupational Government, essentially a puppet of the Cardassian Central Command intended to make the Occupation seem somewhat legitimate. ("The Collaborator") In order to keep the Bajorans in line, the Central Command also installed a prefect to oversee the planet. The last person to hold this post was the now-infamous Gul Dukat. The Cardassians outlawed the d'jarra caste system, which had been an integral part of Bajoran culture for centuries. (DS9: "Accession") Vedeks were forbidden to preach the word of the Bajoran Prophets, although some such as Winn Adami defied these orders. ("Rapture") Further, the Cardassians strip mined the planet, using Bajoran slave labor to perform the task. Secretary Kubus Oak and other officials of the occupational government routinely approved work orders forcing Bajorans to mine ore among other tasks. Such acts of cowardice gave way to a new term for those who participated with the Cardassians or used the Occupation as a source of profit: "collaborators." ("The Collaborator", "Necessary Evil") Some Bajorans' tongues were cut out. Some Bajorans escaped and made their homes on the moons. ("Progress") When a Bajoran was accused of a crime, his or her friends and family were often rounded up for questioning as well. In many cases, the fact that someone was punished was more important than finding the perpetrator of the crime. ("Things Past") The Cardassians also used Bajoran women as "comfort women." ("Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night") Labor camps and Terok Nor The Cardassians interned enter families of Bajorans in labor camps for various purposes, the most common of which was to mine or process ore. ("Emissary") In 2346, the Cardassians used Bajoran slave labor to build an orbital space station known as Terok Nor, which was virtually identical to many other Cardassian outposts. ("Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night", "Empok Nor") Much of this station station was devoted to processing ore, which was the task to which most Bajorans there were assigned. Temperatures in the ore processing section sometimes reached as high as 55° celsius, and in addition to exhaustion, heatstroke became a common cause of death. ("Civil Defense") Deaths from such causes were merely casualties in the eyes of the Cardassian overseers. ("Necessary Evil") Certain areas of Terok Nor were cordoned off and designated Bajoran areas. ("A Time to Stand") Most Bajorans were forced to live in overcrowded community quarters, although some of the more fortunate (mostly collaborators) were assigned their own. ("Necessary Evil") Even the holding cells were overcrowded, with as many as a dozen Bajorans filling cells built for two. A few Bajorans were allowed to earn a meager wage working for the Ferengi bartender, Quark. Many of these were women who won their jobs by showing Quark their "credentials." ("Things Past") Bajoran Resistance :Main article: Bajoran Resistance. The Bajoran Resistance was a coordinated series of terrorist attacks designed to force the Cardassians off the planet. The most prominent terrorist cell was the Shakaar Resistance Cell, of which Major Kira Nerys was a member from the time she was nine. ("The Darkness and the Light") The Resistance hid some sub-impulse fighters on one of Bajor's moons, but there was no large-scale war. ("The Siege") Gul Dukat :Main article: Dukat. Gul Dukat, better known as the man who allied Cardassia with the Dominion, was the prefect of Bajor from around 2359 until the Cardassians withdrew in 2369. ("The Maquis, Part I") Although Dukat ruled with an iron fist, he saw himself as merciful compared to his fellow Cardassians. For example, when a Bajoran was murdered aboard Terok Nor, Dukat chose to hire a Changeling named Odo as an impartial investigator rather than his superiors' prescription of executing ten Bajorans at random. ("Necessary Evil") He also had an affinity for Bajoran women and although he was part of the occupation he saw himself as a friend of the Bajoran people. ("Necessary Evil," "Things Past," "Indiscretion," "Return to Grace," "Waltz," "The Darkness and the Light"). Cardassian withdrawal After fifty years of occupation, the Cardassians withdrew from Bajor, but only under political pressure from the United Federation of Planets and other entities. However, the exact cause of the withdrawal is largely a matter of opinion; while the Bajorans attributed it to the efforts of the Bajoran Resistance, the Cardassians regarded it as an entirely political decision. ("Duet") Much of the Cardassian military opposed the withdrawal at any rate, and Gul Dukat in particular remained intent on reconquering Bajor for over five years. ("Cardassians", "Call to Arms"). Not all Cardassian leaders took as kindly to the decision as Dukat. Gul Darhe'el, furious about the withdrawal, ordered his soldiers to slaughter their Bajoran subordinates. His intention was to kill every last Bajoran, and while his actions were the exception rather than the rule, many Cardassian soldiers shared his sentiments. ("Duet") There was a concerted effort during this period to sabotage key installations such as Terok Nor in order to make recovery as difficult as possible for the Bajorans. ("Emissary") Much of the looting and ransacking was out of hatred toward the Bajorans, although it was standard Cardassian procedure to booby trap abandoned outposts. ("Empok Nor") Many Cardassian children were left behind in the wake of the Occupation, as orphans had no status in Cardassian society. The Bajorans were forced to care for the children, and most remained in orphanages for years. Rugal was one such orphan. The son of a prominent Cardassian politician, Rugal was left on Bajor in an elaborate plot by Gul Dukat to seize power. He was raised by an elderly Bajoran couple and taught to hate Cardassian "butchers," although he was later returned to his father's custody. ("Cardassians") Garak was also left behind. ("Past Prologue") Aftermath Bajor was in a shambles after the Cardassian withdrawal and did not recover for many years. One of the first steps was the formation of the Bajoran Provisional Government, which was unstable at best. ("Emissary") One of the few things virtually all Bajorans agreed uppon was how to deal with those involved with the Occupation. A list of the most egregious Cardassian war crminals was assembled and the individuals on the list were condemned to death, although in practice most were never apprehended. ("Duet") Additionally, a list of collaborators was issued in the Ilvian Proclamation, all of whom were sentenced to exile. ("The Collaborator") Those collaborators who escaped detection spent the rest of their lives trying to ensure that their misdeeds remained secret. ("Necessary Evil") Many Bajorans, particularly the terrorist group known as the Kohn-Ma, continued to fight Cardassia even after the withdrawal, which exacerbated an already chaotic situation. ("Past Prologue") The question of how to re-integrate people such as Tahna Los, a hero of the Bajoran Resistance but a wanted criminal for his activities in the Kohn-Ma, was particularly difficult. As a result, many convicted criminals such as Ibudan were released from prison. ("A Man Alone") In Constable Odo's opinion, "Cardassian rule may have been oppressive, but at least it was... simple." Keeping the Kohn-Ma and other such groups in line proved doubly difficult because the Cardassians often did not honor post-war agreements. Many Bajorans interned or imprisoned during the Occupation remained in Cardassian custody despite a promise by Central Command to release all prisoners. The most infamous case was the legendary resistance fighter Li Nalas, imprisoned on Cardassia IV for years before Major Kira and Chief Miles O'Brien rescued him. ("The Homecoming") Others were conveniently discovered and released only when the Central Command needed political leverage. ("Profit and Loss") An uneasy alliance with the Federation complicated matters as Commander Sisko attempted to balance Bajoran interests with those of the Federation. Major Kira felt that many Bajoran and Federation interestes were separate, sentiments shared by Tahna Los and later exploited by the Alliance for Global Unity. ("Past Prologue", "In the Hands of the Prophets", "The Homecoming") Tahna believed in Bajor for Bajorans, and like him, the Alliance (better known as "The Circle") saw the Federation presence aboard DS9 as another form of occupation. Tensions came to a climax when Minister Jaro Essa, leader of The Circle, attempted a full-scale coup d'etat in what was later discovered to be an elaborate Cardassian attempt to reclaim Bajor. ("The Circle", "The Siege") The effects of various Cardassian experiments poisoned much of Bajor's once-fertile farmland. Farmers such as Shakaar Edon were devastated, and soil reclamators became a highly sought-after commodity. ("Shakaar") Two year's afer the Occupation's end, three million Skrreean refugees fleeing from the Dominion wished to farm the land of Bajor's uninhabited Northwest Peninsula. However, while the peninsula would have been an ideal place to farm prior to the Occupation, the provisional government was forced to turn the Skreeans away due to the toxicity of the soil and the plagues that had arisen on Bajor. ("Sanctuary") Many other vestiges of the Occupation remained with Bajor, including a colony of Cardassian voles that made its home aboard Deep Space 9. ("Playing God") The Bajoran Resistance had created a "Babel" virus to disrupt operations aboard Terok Nor, but an accidental release of the virus incapacitated everyone aboard the station other than for Constable Odo and Quark, both of whom were immune. ("Babel") Additionally, the crew of DS9 discovered a counter-insurgency program Gul Dukat had designed to combat revolts by the Bajoran laborers. The program nearly destroyed the station when it was discovered that Dukat's superior had implemented extra security measures to prevent Dukat from abandoning his post in the event that the Bajorans took control of Terok Nor. ("Civil Defense") One of the Occupation's most insidious side effects was to cause many Bajorans to lose faith in the Prophets. These sentiments culminated in the Cult of the Pah-wraiths, of which Dukat became a twisted Messianic figurehead for a brief time. ("Covenant") The allure of a "restoration" for Bajor was so great that even Kai Winn, who believed the Prophets had forsaken her, turned to the Pah-wraiths ("Somewhere in season 6 or 7") Post-Occupation relations The Cardassians refused to acknowledge the events that transpired during the Occupation, instead using terms like "alleged improprietaries" to describe them. Some Cardassians even believed that the Cardassian leaders themselves started rumors of brutality in order to keep the Bajorans thinking of themselves as victims. Aamin Marritza, who worked as a file clerk at Gallitep and witnessed numerous atrocities first hand, attempted to impersonate Gul Darhe'el so the Bajorans would sentence him to death and Cardassia would be forced to admit its guilt. However, his true identity was later revealed and he was killed by a fanatical Bajoran. ("Duet") While most Cardassians remained bitter about the loss of Bajor, there were those who believed the two peoples could co-exist equally. Gul Dukat was one such person, although he never admitted it publicly on Cardassia and his motives were suspect. ("Indiscretion") Another unlikely proponent of peace was Legate Tekeny Ghemor, a member of the Cardassian Underground. Ghemor's daughter, Iliana, had been sent to Bajor as an undercover spy over his and his wife's objections and subsequently went missing. When the Obsidian Order attempted to convince Ghemor that Major Kira was his daughter in order to reveal Ghemor as a traitor, the subsequent struggle brought the two of them almost as close as a real father and daughter. ("Second Skin") When the Bajorans and Cardassians finally established formal diplomatic relations, the Bajorans felt that they were entitled to war reparations for the damage incurred during the Occupation. Vedek Bareil Antos spent months secretly negotiating with Gul Turrel of the Central Command in order to work out a formal peace treaty between Cardassia and Bajor. Bareil died during the negotiations and Kai Winn took credit for what later became the Bajoran-Cardassian Treaty. ("Life Support") Even after the treaty was signed, relations between the two peoples were shakty at best. During the Cardassian Rebellion against the Dominion, Major Kira had to wear a Starfleet uniform because Legate Damar, as well as Garak, felt that receiving help from a member of the Bajoran Militia would undermine his credibility with the Cardassian people. ("Tacking into the Wind") Seven years after the Occupation's end, Bajorans were still unwelcome on Cardassia Prime, which is why Tora Ziyal, Gul Dukat's half-Bajoran daughter, chose to remain aboard Deep Space 9. ("Sacrifice of Angels") Mirror universe Occupation :Main article: Mirror universe. In the mirror universe, Cardassia never occupied Bajor. Instead, the Cardassians and the Klingons allied themselves to overtake the Terran Empire. Bajor had previously been conquered by the Terrans, and once free, it petitioned the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance for membership. It ultimately became an influential member world. (DS9: "Crossover") See also *Li Nalas *Dr. Crell Moset *Kendra Valley Massacre External Links *Star Trek.com "Bajoran Occupation" Documentary References *DS9 **Season 1 **Emissary **Past Prologue **A Man Alone **Babel **Progress **Duet **In the Hands of the Prophets **Season 2 **The Homecoming **The Circle **The Siege **Cardassians **Necessary Evil **Sanctuary **Playing God **The Maquis, Part I **Profit and Loss **Crossover **The Collaborator **Season 3 **Second Skin **Civil Defense **Life Support **Shakaar **Season 4 **Indiscretion **Return to Grace **Accession **Season 5 **Things Past **The Darkness and the Light **Empok Nor **Call to Arms **Season 6 **A Time to Stand **Sacrifice of Angels **Waltz **Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night **Season 7 **Covenant **Tacking into the Wind Occupation of Bajor de:Cardassianische Besetzung von Bajor nl:Bezetting van Bajor